A fragile and precious resource, children the world over need
special care and protection in order to grow into healthy,
productive adults. All too often they do not get enough of
either. Millions die before they are five years old because they
get too little food, or the wrong kind. Millions die of
diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis, and
tuberculosis because they are not properly immunized against
these diseases. Constant sickness and early death are common
place for the millions who have to live without adequate food,
clean water, or the most basic health and sanitation services,

Much has been done over the past 30 veers: Children near
Kamazan, Iran (above), are among those who will benefit from a
campaign to improve the country's health conditions. Vitamins,
powdered milk, drugs, and soap have been provided for
distribution through health centres which are being established
in cities and provinces. In India (at right) schools are given
plots of unused land where they harvest fruits and vegetables
which are used in school lunches. This education programme
enables the children to learn about nutrition and the value of
co-operation. Afghanistan has a history of severe seasonal water
scarcity, making it extreme!, vulnerable to drought conditions
which have assumed unusually grave proportions during the past
few years. However, the rural water supply programme enables
these young village girls (far right) to fill their pots with
pure and clean water from a pump. In Chad (facing page, bottom)
kindergarteners learn proper nutrition at a school milk break as
part of an education project. Schooling starts at an earlier age
than ever before, and women attend classes in literacy and
home-making and take their children to health centres where they
learn modern methods of rearing them.

Despite these and other efforts to meet the needs of children
throughout the world, much remains to be done. By placing
children at the centre of world attention, the International Year
of the Child hopes to refuel the search for a broader and deeper
understanding of the magnitude of their needs.